Saving Isabella
by RAWR I'mGonnaEatYou
Summary: What happens when your worst nightmares become your reality? I cannot tell you much besides it is going to be one hell of a fight to keep them away from me, but mostly away from Him. His safety means more to me than my own. I would do anything for him. Even if that meant giving my own life to save his. I would do it without hesitation.
1. Rough Nights

**Hello there! Its been quite some time and I do apologize to you about that. Things have gotten crazy for me. But here is a new story, something I have been working on for years and I hope that you guys enjoy this. The characters belong to Stephanie Meyer but the Plot line is all mine. Please be courteous and not steal this from me I have worked hard on this story.**

**~Rawr**

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_"No! You need to run love!"_

My eyes snapped open, lungs gasping for breath, my heart jack hammering in my chest as I tried to separate my dreams from the reality of where I was. Glancing at the clock I noticed that it was two thirty in the morning. Just great considering the big exam I have in seven hours. Stumbling down the short hall, the wood floors cold on my feet I entered the small bathroom. The lights nearly blinded me as I looked in the mirror. My chestnut locks were a tangled mess around my face my chocolate brown eyes wide from fear. My once ablaster skin is tinted pink from the exertion on my heart from my nightmares. However my concern was not on my own health or my own sanity but rather on him.

The last thing that I can remember is seeing his emerald eyes filled with hate and his lithe body positioned in front of my petite frame protecting me from the monsters approaching our location. Fully knowing that they were after me and would not stop until I was in their custody and away from the safety of him, his bronze hair was acting as a beacon for me in the early stages as I ran from them searching for safety. Safety which I found in his embrace tucked away from the horrors of the imaginary realm. However I knew that I had to snap out of my current thinking. It was all just a dream and I needed to brace myself for what was to come in my very real and revenant future. My macroeconomics exam was looming over my head like a death sentence I knew that if I did not get back to bed then I would be in trouble for this test. I needed to stay coherent and keep my thoughts in order, as much as it pained me away from him. Shutting off the light I stumbled back down the dark corridor to my room and the warmth of my bed asking for a few more scant hours of sleep.

Four hours later when the alarm next to my bed let out its shrill cry to wake the dead, the cold air seeping under my blankets to attack my skin and the light pitter patter of rain on my window I knew it was going to be a long day. Slipping from the safety of my bed I trekked the five feet across the room to my closet to gather my clothing for the day along with some semblance of sanity as well. This test scared me. I could not wait for this exam to be over, I wanted to get to the other parts of my day such as the English courses I need for my major. Those tend to be much more enjoyable then my required courses for a teaching degree. Getting dressed has always been a quick affair for me. I am not one to care about fashion or what other people tend to think of me. I am much more focused on the here and the now.

The scent of pancakes wafted from the kitchen to my nose. My mom knew that today was going be a rough day for me; she was pulling out all of the stops.

"Morning Mom! It smells delicious"

Turning she looked at me with her wide blue eyes and strawberry blond hair. A knowing smile graced her face. "I heard you up last night and figured you would need this since you have that test today. Honestly honey I don't know how you do it! I would never be able to survive that class like you do." A peal of laughter escaped her small frame, and only intensified when we heard my dad stumble down the hall muttering something about his god awful work boots.

"Renee are you laughing at me again?!" my father asked.

"Of course not Charlie I'm just laughing at something Bella said!" she shot me a wink. My dad's sturdy six foot four frame loomed in the kitchen door way, his mustache twitching with unshed laughter at my mom. Even after being married for twenty four years they still seem like high school kids in love. It is rather funny to watch my dad lean down to my mom's petite height of five foot five to give her the standard good morning kiss and compliment on breakfast.

"Pancakes huh? It must be test day then." My dad laughed. Ever since I reached the third grade, every day that I had a test my mom made her banana pancakes with a chocolate glaze to help me get through the exam.

"Unfortunately it's the macroeconomics midterm." I said while looking out into the small mist that shrouded my view of the forest that surrounded our property.

"Don't sweat it kiddo you will do just fine on this exam like you have on all of the others." My dad said with his signature smirk of wisdom.

"I know it's just stressful to have to worry about the grades and all of that. I can't get any lower than a C if I want to go and get my master's degree."

"Bella honey, you need to breathe and take it one day at a time. I know that you want your degree but you won't get it by constantly being stuck in the future. Baby you need to live for the now." My mom, even though she can be truly scatterbrained she is still a major voice of reason within this house. She can help talk me and my dad down from any crazy idea that we are on or talk us into doing something that will benefit us.

"I know mom, it's just in my nature to worry about everything that's going on and you know that." I sighed while taking another bite of my meal.

"I know Bella you just need to relax and take it easy. Do something for yourself that you normally wouldn't do."

"Okay mom, but not till after midterms are over!" I argued. I love my mom, she helps to make everything seem easier, and my dad is the strong force of us. When the family is faced with a challenge he takes it head on to help keep us in line and fighting to get our dreams. In our family I am the thinker, I will analyze a situation for hours until a solution is found, I also help cut corners where it's needed since the economy has fallen into a downward spiral.

My dad sighed and grabbed his plate to wash it off. "Thank you baby it was delicious, Bells good luck on your test sweetheart." My dad finished washing off his plate, his badge glinted in the light. Being the chief of police in our small town of Forks Washington my dad always had to be to the station early to give a morning brief to the boys. My mom had to be to the library later to help stock the shelves and all that fun for her job. I had to make the drive to the Port Angeles community college for my test and the rest of my classes for the day. The hour drive was going to be daunting considering I could not stop thing about this test in my distant future. The hour also gave me time to reflect. Giving my mom a kiss on her cheek I made my way out into the mist and to my ancient 1953 Chevy truck. Cranking the ignition two times just to get Nessie started she roared to life as I slipped the clutch down to shift gears and begin my drive.

I paid the utmost attention to everything around me in town, I did not need word of my distraction getting back to my parents, yet when the "Welcome to Forks" sign was a marker in my rear view I let my mind wander.

_It's a typical cold rainy night in Seattle, the drumming of rain on my hood, the humidity curling my exposed hair and cheeks tinged red attempting to keep warmth to my face. Nearing Pikes Peak Market Place I smiled at the commotion of the day winding down to nothing. Footsteps coming from my left startled me. Glancing I noticed those piercing emerald irises set into a perfectly chiseled face and a long lithe body. Yet what really stuck with me was his hair. A perfect disarray on his head with several shades of bronze poking through like the stages of a penny looking like it took him hours to style it. From new and bright to an old tarnished bronze graced his head making him seem immortal._

_However I knew that was not the case when a sickly pale arm snuck around his neck holding him to the burly body behind him. Red glinted from the man behind him. Those eyes haunted my every moment the pure hate contained within them scared me to the bone. I did not know what they were capable of but I knew it was something awful. _

_From my right I heard an awful hissing sound "Issabella! Oh Isssaaabellaa!"I whipped my head to the right and found those crimson irises staring me down. I knew then that _they_ had found me. There was not much I could do. Not until that deliciously velvet voice rang out into the still of the night._

"_No! You need to run love!"_

Eternally grateful were the two words that came to mind, I was glad that my sensitive heart could take no more and woke me from the terror. I doubted that I could bare anymore of it. My past nightmares have already had me shivering from fear.

_Red eyes pinned me to the wall in the boiler room. No escape routes near me I knew this would be my end just like the junkie he had killed. She had been peacefully ignorant of what was going on around her sleeping in nothing more than her bra and underwear next to the heat of the furnace. Her long brunette mane spread out underneath her spilling down the sides of the mattress and to the floor. That was until he grabbed her by the throat and pulled her struggling body to his mouth. Cringing farther into the corner as he dug his teeth into her flesh and the juncture of her neck and shoulder, the last I could hear was her pained moan as he took the life force that she had to offer. _

_Once he was significantly happy with the life he took and had his fill of her blood he dropped the corpse back on to the thin dirty mattress and began to saunter my direction with that sinister look in his eyes._

"_Oh Isabella it is time for you to come to me my darling. I have what you need to break these bonds you are in and revive my dear Sculpia." He hissed reaching out to stroke my face._

The blare of a horn to my left startled me out of my thought process as Angela exited her beat up Camary to come my direction with a large smile on her face.

"Good morning! You ready for this exam or are you dreading it as much as I am?" She giggled. Angela's laughter was always infectious because of the twinkle in her eye and how witty she was when she chose to be.

"Not in the slightest but lets hope for the best considering this is in fact the dreaded midterm. I can't wait for the final and to have this class be over with! I want to do the more exciting parts of my major." I sighed.

"Believe me I know. I do not care about the whole thing just that if an inflationary period hits how much harder I will have to work in order to survive. Its not like the government does much anyway to help out right now. I just want to get to my history courses and focus on the intriguing events such as the world wars."

"You are such a nerd Angela but that's why I like you!" I laughed.

"Sweetie you are calling me the nerd? Have you looked in a mirror you are the one studying literature. All of those buffoons are already dead and did not leave a lasting impact on history like the people I study."

This is just what I needed, the lighthearted bantering with Angela before the tests to take my mind off of things and relax my body for this test. I could only pray that a higher power would be with me when the exam slid in front of me. Reading the first question I groaned to myself.

_In the Aggregate supply and demand model what is the theory that many believed the economy would do in times of inflation?_

Sighing I wiped my brain of _him_ and began this long grueling exam.

Once finished with the exam I felt one hundred pounds lighter, and trust me my five foot five frame could not handle that weight. Stepping into the mist I sighed and allowed my mind to go in the direction my heart chose. That was back to those haunting green eyes of _him_.

"How do you think you did?" came from behind me, causing me to jump quite high from fright.

"Jesus Angela!" I exclaimed while trying to calm my rapidly moving heart. At this rate today I was going to have a heart attack, from the nightmare this morning to now my poor overworked heart could not get a break. "I think I did alright. I just want to get at least a B on that test."

"Bella are you alright? You look out of it today." I could not come up with a response to this so I just sighed and looked at her. "Here let's go get some lunch since we have time to kill and you tell me what's up with you these days." She suggested. I nodded in approval and we made our way to our favorite Italian place to eat.

This was going to be one long conversation.


	2. Trouble Begins

**Here you guys go! A Double posting in one day! I do hope that you enjoy this as much as I do. Please leave a Review and let me know what you think of my new story!**

**~Rawr**

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Stepping from the cold humid streets into the warm dimly lit restaurant was a shock to my system. All the shivering I had done on the walk over stopped the minute the warm air caressed my face. The smell of delicious Italian food wafted into my nose beckoning my stomach to respond. Respond it did with a loud growl that Angela heard. This sent her into a fit of giggles. Before long her stomach responded to mine, we were both lost in the sea of laughter when the hostess interrupted us.

"How many?" She asked in a curt tone obviously not happy with her job.

"Just the two of us and a booth please." I responded to her. She then led us to a quite booth in the corner with no other patrons around us, which would be perfect for the conversation we were about to indulge in. No one else would think I was crazy. After getting settled and getting two cokes Angela began her inquisition.

"What's wrong with you, and don't you dare give me that bullshit line of 'Oh nothing I'm fine.' Come on Bella talk to me here!" She stated.

"Okay, this is going to take a bit of time. But here it goes. You know the nightmares I've been having?" I asked her, she nodded in response. "I don't know what the hell is going on with me anymore. They come every night now, not every so often like before. It's wearing me down to the bone. Focusing on school and work seems to be getting harder for me to do. Last night was the worst one I have had in a while."

"What happened if you don't mind telling me."

"Ugh let's see, I was in Seattle for some reason, typical weather conditions when all the sudden they just appeared out of nowhere. First though _he_ appeared near Pikes Peak Market Place. Then they were behind him trying to hurt him when he yelled for me to run as fast as I could away from him. It was bad; really it was one of the ones that shook me to my core. I would rather go without sleeping now." I sighed.

"Oh honey I know. I'm sorry that this is happening to you but it will be over soon and then you will be able to get a good night's sleep."

"Is it bad for me to say that I don't want this to be over?" I asked her while questioning my own sanity.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because," I sighed "I am going to sound like I am crazy and need to be shipped off to a psych ward or something but He is in those dreams and I don't want to lose him. I know he is a figment of my over active imagination I just don't want to lose him you know? I feel like for me it would be similar to you losing Ben." Ben being Angela's longtime boyfriend from high school. She and Ben were able to secure an apartment up here in Port Angeles while I still lived at home with my parents trying to make it through school.

"I know what you are saying Bella but these nightmares are killing you from the inside out and there is nothing that you can do to keep him. I don't want to see you suffering from lack of sleep and getting into a car wreck or something that could prematurely end your life."

"I know Ang. I just feel like that is my last hope at happiness. God I sound like I am freaking crazy!" I groaned while running my hands through my hair.

"You know what we need this weekend? We should go to Seattle for a day to hit up a good place to eat and do some seriously good book shopping. That's just what you need. A good book that will get your mind off of this and onto another hunk of a man." Angela said with a proud smirk.

"Oh god! I cannot believe you just said that!" I laughed at her. "I'll talk to my parents and see if I can borrow my mom's car."

"Alright! I was thinking Saturday?"

"Works for me." I said, luckily we had finished that discussion before our waiter came back with the food. That conversation was over and now it was time to go onto lighter subjects before heading back to class.

The end of the day was always a blessing and a curse for me. Blessing because I got to have an hour long quite drive home to my parents and my cat, but a curse because my mind continued to wander off in directions that it should not be going, those dreams were something that I needed to start avoiding to save my sanity. On the bright side of this I worked tonight and avoided my parents questioning my nightmares and put off going to sleep for that much longer. Turning onto my street I noticed that my parents were not there. _This is a good sign_.

Pulling into my usual space in front of my parent's house I noticed a small form sitting in the window, glaring at the world around him. Bracing myself for the onslaught of the cold I jumped from the cab of my truck and quickly made my way up the path to the front door. Upon opening it I heard a soft _meow _come from my right. Looking over I saw my little man stretching his way over to me. Mowgli, my year old orange tabby cat could not get enough of his momma. Wherever I was he wanted to be and when I left the house my mom told me he would sit by the window and watch me drive off before scampering around the house like a mad man.

"Hey there big boy! Did you miss me?" I cooed to the orange fluff wrapping himself around my ankles in a figure eight pattern purring like it was his only chance to live. The response I received from him was a soft mewling sound as he continued to shower me with his affection. Dropping my bag by the door I scooped up Mowgli and made my way upstairs to change for work. Mowgli contently purring the entire way, until I dropped him on my bed that is, he turned to glare at me and let out a very disgruntled meow before flopping himself down on my pillow and falling asleep. Grabbing my simple black polo I slipped it on before walking to Mowgli and giving him a kiss on the head. "I love you baby I'll see you after work."

The drive to Tattered Pages was quick. I loved my job. The peace from working in this quite second hand book store made my day. The air smelt like a mix of used worn books and coffee. Just what I needed to enter the right mind set and begin my day, well evening of this. Stocking shelves and placing orders was the norm for my days here. Getting a new customer was rare, but all of my usual customers had me smiling from ear to ear.

Today seemed to be one of those rare days. An hour into my shift of the standard filling and stocking the bell above the door chimed, announcing a visitor. Turning around I noticed a woman standing in the door, her long caramel colored hair was pulled back into a high ponytail as her eyes scoured the store looking for something.

"Hello, how are you?" I asked her.

"I'm very good dear. How about you?" She replied in a warm mothering tone.

"I'm doing well is there anything that I can help you find?"

"Yes actually where do you keep your cook books. There is an old one that my friend told me about and I would love to find! The banana bread recipe is delicious!"

"They are going to be right this way. Just let me know if you need anything else." I said after showing her the small selection of books we had before moving back to the new inventory. Twenty minutes later she requested that I check her out so she could go home and make this banana bread. All throughout the process she did not look at me however when I was handing her the change she looked up and I was dumb struck. Those eyes, I have seen those eyes before. That emerald green will forever be etched into my memory.

"Thank you dear, have a good night!" She called as she was leaving the building. Still dumbstruck at the register I noticed the time. Nine pm. closing time. Going to lock up the front door and turn off the open sign I noticed a figure across the street standing in the shadows. Fear seeped into my bloodstream as I cautiously moved away from the door and back to the registers to close it up.

Counting the drawer was tedious but it had to be done in order to lock up the system. After securing the deposit and the remainder of the drawer cash in the safe I wrote Elizabeth a note explaining what I accomplished during the shift and what still needs to be done.

_Lizzie,_

_I was able to get five out of seven boxes done for shipment between the customers. The rest are opened and sorted in the back hall. All you have left to do is put them on the shelves. Money is secure in the safe! I will see you tomorrow!_

_Bella_

Satisfied with my note I looked up to the door, a habit of mine, to notice the figure standing in the doorway, pacing the windows. He was tall, covered mostly by a black trench coat but when he pivoted to the left the light caught his eyes. I saw a flash of red and a knowing smile cross his face.

"Oh Issabellaaa. . ." He hissed. My heart stopped and fear pumped through my system at a fast rate. _Keep calm Bella, just for a few more minutes._ My mental voice urged. Thankful for Lizzie's insistence for having an employee door in back I grabbed my bag and smoothly moved to engage the alarm system, which was unfortunately five feet from the monster. "Come to me Issabellaaa. We've been waiting for you." He hissed again. Turning my back to the door I had a brisk pace across the store and moved in the back hallway. Slipping out the back door I bolted for my truck, footsteps sounded behind me. Reaching the rusted door and stubborn lock I fussed for a few minutes as he got closer and closer to Nessie. When he was twenty yards from the truck the lock sprang open, I jumped into the car, not bothering with my seat belt I yanked the door closed and slammed the lock down all while engaging the clutch and roaring my beast to life. For being sixty years old Nessie put some pep in her step and we peeled out of the lot away from the reality of my nightmares.


End file.
